NOVEL NEXT Chapter 68
The end of September.
The lingering heat from summer seemed to be nearing its end, and I was diligently cleaning my room as usual.
Cleaning is good.
The more time you spend on it, the cleaner your room gets. A clean room boosts productivity, and more importantly, it’s good for your health. I’m often awed by what a wonderful task it is.
“Are you still cleaning?”
There’s one person giving me a glare.
My cohabitant living in this apartment meant for one, Hayashi.
Various circumstances led us to live together in this room. Spending our days like this, it’s almost two months since she took refuge in this room.
“Is there a problem?”
“Didn’t I tell you before?”
“Tell me what?”
“Clean for one hour a day.”
“Right.”
I reply to Hayashi’s words without stopping my hands.
Clean for one hour a day.
The first time Hayashi said that… it was the day she met up with her high school classmates, excluding me.
Seriously. Why limit cleaning to one hour a day? Restrictions should be on things like gaming or any unproductive activities.
Unlike games, cleaning is a mass of productivity.
No matter how much time I spend cleaning in a day, it benefits her as well, so there’s no reason for her to complain.
“If I don’t say something, you’ll just keep cleaning all day except when you’re sleeping, right?”
“Cleaning is good for health.”
“Too much cleaning is bad for the body.”
Hmm, indeed.
… It can’t be helped.
In reality, about two thousand excuses to refute her are floating in my head… but I’ll let it slide today.
“Lunch is ready.”
“Thanks as always. Then I’ll eat.”
“Mm.”
It’s 11:30 AM.
We started eating lunch. Our lunchtime on holidays is always around this time.
Both of us are early risers.
So, even if we eat a good breakfast, we get a bit hungry around this time.
As we ate the vegetable stir-fry Hayashi made, we enjoyed a moderate conversation.
Several minutes later, we finished eating.
“I’ll do the dishes.”
“It’s okay. Just soak them in water.”
“…Alright.”
Hayashi has always been taking care of the dishwashing somewhat spontaneously.
However, I feel a slight guilt about this situation. I think it’d be good to share even the minor chores like washing dishes.
But whenever I suggest this, Hayashi becomes inexplicably grumpy and refuses to switch.
Gradually, I stopped suggesting to share the dishwashing, but I spent my days trying to secretly do the work instead, only to be stopped.
Lately, I’ve come to think this exchange is utterly pointless.
I even think it might be easier to just leave it all to Hayashi.
But if I concede, I’d have to ask why I insisted all this while… In other words, it’s a situation where I can’t back down.
Leaving the dishwashing to Hayashi, I was absent-mindedly watching TV.
Shows that only stream videos from video sites and overreact to comedians on the screen.
Shows that only quiz semi-amateurs.
Rebroadcasts of old dramas.
Rebroadcasts of travel shows.
No matter how many channels I flip through, the tight budgets of the current television industry are seeping through, which is discouraging.
At this rate, I might as well find it more entertaining to watch a Tuesday night suspense drama.
“Hey…”
At the exact moment when I turned off the television because there was nothing I wanted to watch, I was called by Hayashi.
“What’s up?”
“Do you have any plans tonight?”
“Tonight?”
It was an abrupt schedule check.
I hummed in thought.
“I do.”
“Eh, I didn’t hear anything.”
“I have to eat the dinner you’ve prepared.”
Hayashi fell silent.
The sound of running water from the faucet and the noise of a sponge cleaning dishes echoed through the room.
“…I have a place I want to go tonight.”
My words were completely ignored, and Hayashi clumsily spoke.
“A place you want to go?”
A moment of silence.
Once the sound of water stopped, probably indicating the end of dishwashing, Hayashi came into the living room, drying her hands with an apron.
Then, she passed by me, picked up her smartphone, and after operating it for a while, she showed me the screen.
Displayed on the screen was ticket information for a play being performed by a famous theatre troupe in Japan.
“…Actually, I was planning to go with Akari.”
“Oh, well you should go.”
“…She can’t make it anymore.”
“Eh, that’s harsh. She’s… what kind of situation came up?”
“Eh?”
“Eh?”
As if she hadn’t thought about it at all, Hayashi had widened her eyes.
“Um…”
“Is it a difficult reason to explain?”
“That’s right.”
“I see. I’m sorry then. Let’s pretend I didn’t ask.”
Again, silence.
Lately, there have been many occasions when she goes silent while I’m having a conversation with her. Is she having a brain freeze, or is what she’s thinking difficult to express?
…Well, she was straightforward in high school, even when things were hard to say, so it’s probably the former.
Even so, having a brain freeze seems kind of dumb (laughs).
“Let’s go.”
It was a straightforward invitation.
“I’m not really into that sort of thing, sorry.”
“It’s okay. Neither am I.”
“So why did you want to go?”
“…Akari invited me.”
That girl…
She’s surprisingly harsh, even though I thought she was overly sweet to Hayashi.
“I see. You’re really pitiful… alright, let’s go.”
“Thank you.”
“No problem, but what about the ticket cost?”
“It’s okay.”
“It can’t be.”
“I bought it with my first paycheck.”
“That’s all the more reason you shouldn’t.”
I pointed out with a sharp tone, but I understood that Hayashi would definitely not budge on this, having lived with her for about two months now.
Reluctantly, I decided to take advantage of her generosity.
In exchange, I’ll have to treat her to dinner.
“Then, should we have dinner out as well?”
“Okay. I’ve already made reservations.”
“Eh?”
“Eh?”
…Ah, so she made plans with Akari, including dinner.
And then, Akari suddenly canceled.
…Really?